Yu-Gi-Oh! X-Stars
by bluestar899
Summary: In the far distant future Duel Monsters is now played across the stars! Join the heroine, Estrel Galaxia as she takes the Galaxy League Challenge and try to win her way into the Championship Finals! Chapter 2 - The Final Duel of the Falena Qualifier Tournament has Estrel pitted against Amond Rau, a seasoned Duelist! Can she defeat him or will her quest for glory end here?
1. Turn 1 - Sacred Star Knights

In the far too distant future mankind has long achieved its dream of sailing across the sea of stars known as space. With it came prosperity as contact between worlds and solar systems strewn about the galaxy became possible leading to further advancements. One of these was to the game of Duel Monsters a card game originating from Earth that ended up being played by the rest of the galaxy. This new popularity lead to the creation of the Galaxy Championship Challenge; a league consisting of events held across space itself culminating with a final tournament at the center of the Milky Way itself. To be able to participate one would be required to earn an invite by winning various tournaments and it would be at one such tournament that one Duelist's adventure would begin…

Opening Song – Wild Arms 3 Advanced Wind

_The change in time _

_Finally made up my mind _

_I raise my hand from beneath the shifting sand _

_And embrace the winds of change _

_Suddenly, everything is up to me _

_The pages turn, flashing full of memories _

_I can see it all too clear _

_The time has come to face my fear _

_And there's a fire burning in my heart _

_To shine when all is torn apart _

_And I will make it through this desert storm _

_Safe and warm _

_My shield is strong _

_I'll take my chances here and now _

_Bring on the fight _

_I'll find a way to win somehow _

_No tomorrow's no regret _

_I'll risk it all for this brand new day_

**Yu-Gi-Oh! X Stars**

**Chapter 1 – Sacred Star Knights**

A woman unusual to the Planet of Falena arrived with a look of awe on her fair face. Likewise people looked at her with a bit of curiosity due to her outlandish appearance. The woman who was best described as slender looking yet alluring at the same time had people initially perceiving her as meek before noticing several small cuts on her shoulders and thighs along with a bandage on her face. Adding further confusion was her odd choice of attire of a black sleeveless vest over a white shirt and a purple skirt over a pair of black shorts. Her long, spiny and silver hair tipped with purple had a pair of large bangs that hid the sides of her face while she sported black gloves that covered her forearms and boots that hid most of her legs. Realizing that she had been caught gawking the woman chuckled nervously before moving forward.

"So this is Sol Falena, capital city of this world…" she said in a voice that had a mixture of gentleness and strength, "I've always wanted to visit this place. Too bad that I have other business to attend to."

Her dark purple eyes spotted a large building in the distance. The location of a Galaxy Challenge event known as a Global Qualifier. She broke into a run upon spotting a large screen displaying the number of open slots left; 1.

"Like that! I just hope I can make it's too late!"

Showing remarkable agility the woman sidestepped and outright leapt over people with a few flips to boot in her attempt to make it.

"Almost there…almost there! Just a little more and…" she panted while coming up to the desk and slapping her hand down, "THERE! Made it!"

The receptionist blinked, "R-right. Welcome to the Galaxy League Global Qualifier! Please be patient while we ask some questions. Have you ever played before?"

"Yes."

"Would you like to know about Timed Hits?"

"What?"

"Just kidding! Actually I just need your name."

"Estrel Galaxia," the woman said as she was handed a paper with a 'C' on it and a duel disk.

"Excellent! Feel free to wait around while pairings are being done."

The woman named Estrel nodded before heading to a bench to rest up. She spotted a few duelists in deep discussion with one being unable to hide his excitement. She smiled, feeling a bit of it rubbing off while glancing towards the building.

'This feeling…I like it,' she thought, 'I don't know what's going to happen now but it doesn't scare me. It's making me hyped!'

Her eyes roamed from left to right taking in the sights of the land, the clear blue sky, a man in green with outrageously spiked hair and a family of three walking their dog.

"Attention all players! Please head inside the arena where our staff will take you to the fields designated on your slips."

Minutes later Estrel was led into the center area with spectators all around. She found herself standing opposite a young man in grey and black.

"Hello, my name is Estrel," she said.

"Whatever, weakling," he replied with a snort.

"Ex-excuse me?"

"Don't take it too hard. It's just how it is when you're as good as I am. Everyone else is a weakling or scrub in comparison."

"He's confident," Estrel said dryly as she saw people take their places in other parts on the arena floor.

"With a deck like this who wouldn't be?" the man said with a malicious grin.

"Attention players!" a voice shouted through speakers all over the arena, "You may begin!"

The two duelists brought up their arms, "DUEL!"

Estrel (4000) vs. Frith (4000)

"Huh, name displays," Estrel said while looking up a screen that had the names of her opponent and herself, "So you're Frith."

"And you aren't worth remembering."

"He's like the people on Galaxy Network," she muttered, "Whatever. I'll go first. Draw for turn."

She placed a card on her disk before snapping her arm to the side, "I summon Constellar Sheritan in attack mode!"

A series of stars appeared before her, causing the battlefield to darken while they moved about and took on the form of the constellation Aeries. From the stars a small warrior clad in white armour with a ram's helmet and a blaster weapon arrived (Lv. 3, 700 Atk).

"When this card is normal summoned I can activate his effect to add a Constellar Monster from my deck to my hand, such as Constellar Pollux. I'll also set three cards face down and end my turn."

"Just that? What a trashy turn. I was expecting something more fearsome than that. Oh well I guess I'll just have to show these people what a good deck is," Frith said while drawing for turn, "What this display of skill. You may learn something, scrub."

"I set three cards face down!"

Estrel rose an eyebrow.

"And I activate Card Destruction! Both of us discard our hands to the graveyard to draw an equal number of cards from our decks! I'll discard Silva, Warlord of Dark World and Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World!"

Estrel rolled her eyes before placing her face within the palm of her hand.

"He calls _me_ bad and yet…oh, whatever," she sighed while discarding her searched monster, Mystical Space Typhoon and Pot of Duality.

"After drawing our cards my monsters' effects will activate. First is Grapha, Dragon Ruler of Dark World. When he's discarded I can target one card you have…"

Frith pointed at Estrel's center set card, "…and destroy it!"

A large black claw shot up from behind Constellar Sheritan, snaring and crushing a Dimensional Prison.

"While that's going on I'll have Silva special summon itself from the Graveyard!"

Estrel looked up to find a large black creature decorated with skulls bearing a sword rising up from the underworld, staring her down condemningly. (Lv. 5, 2300).

"…this is getting ridiculous."

"Oh but the fun doesn't stop there!" Frith said while slapping a card down, "I'll summon my Tour Guide from the Underworld now!"

From the distance a black, horned bus drove into the battle field before stopping before the man. Slowly the door opened as a slender woman wearing navy garb with red hair stepped out while bearing a whistle (Lv. 3, 1000 Atk.) She looked up at the crowd and winked.

"MAI WAIFU!" someone shouted.

"Never mind what I said before. _Now _this is getting ridiculous," Estrel sighed.

"Ask me if I care," Frith said while pointing at his monster, "I'm more concerned about my monster effect. When Normal Summoned my Tour Guide can summon a Level 3 Fiend from the deck. I choose Broww, Huntsman of Dark World!"

Tour Guide blew on the whistle, its ringing causing a commotion in the bus behind her as another demonic warrior dressed with skulls and bearing a crossbow stepped out (Lv. 3 1400 Atk).

"Then reveal my set Dragged Down into the Grave! Both of us reveal our hands and discard a card from it before drawing. Now…show me your hand!

Estrel revealed Forbidden Lance, Book of Moon and Constellar Kaus to his Snoww, Unlight of Dark World.

"I have no idea what that monster does but I don't want it there. Get rid of it! I'll then discard my Snoww since it's the only card in my hand. Now we draw a card."

Frith snapped his arm out, "Snoww's effect activates and lets me add any Dark World card from my deck to the hand! I'll pick my Gates of Dark World field spell and activate it!"

The battlefield began to change as large monuments decorated with spines and skulls rose up and enclosed the two. White mist rolled across the ground while a massive gate could be seen slowly opening behind Frith (Silva 2300 - 2600 Atk, Tour Guide 1000 - 1300 Atk, Broww 1400 - 1700 Atk).

"This card boosts the attack and defense of all Fiend-Type monsters in play by 300! Plus I can do something else with it. But first…"

He snapped his arm down.

"I'll activate the effect of my Gates! By banishing a Fiend from my grave I can discard a card to draw another! I'll Banish Snoww to discard the Grapha I just drew and draw another. Since I destroyed a Grapha you know what that means…"

"I lose a card I control, I know," Estrel said with a sigh.

"Heheh! Glad you can understand that much! Grapha, destroy that monster!"

The woman barely had time to blink as another claw rose up and tore through Sheritan.

"I return Broww from the field to my hand," he said while reaching into his graveyard and pulling out a card before placing it onto the board, "In doing so I am able to summon Grapha, Dragon Ruler of Dark World to the field. Arise from the depths of hell, my monster!"

The area began to rumble as cracks formed in the ground before Estrel. A clawed arm shot up while causing rocks to fly as a roar filled the air. Spreading out large wings that blotted out all remaining sunlight was a demon of massive size decorated in skulls from head to toe along with numerous horns (Lv. 8, 2700 - 3000 Atk).

"Then I return Silva to my hand to summon my second Grapha!" Frith shouted as a second demon lord rose up from the dead, "Now I'll play my Dark World Dealings! We each draw a card before discarding another! I'll discard Silva which means he'll be summoned to the field!"

Estrel discarded Compulsory Evacuation Device before looking back to her opponent's field, now consisting of two monsters with 3000 attack and one with 2600 attack.

"Overkill much?" she asked as Frith let out a high pitched laugh.

"Not even close! I'm going to annihilate you, scrub!" he said while taking a card from his hand and playing it down, "I play Foolish Burial! I can send a monster straight from my deck to the graveyard such as my last Grapha! By now I hope you know what that means…"

Estrel kept silent as Silva was returned to the hand as another Grapha was summoned.

"With this, I win!" he shouted with his arms raised before looking at her with glee, "This is the end! Battle! My Grapha will attack you directly! The first for 3000 damage and the second for game! Just for good measure I'll have my last one swing regardless! Take it all! Underworld Ram-"

"Trap activate, Waboku!"

Frith snapped out of his reverie with a look of shock as a card with an image of robed women popped up beside Estrel.

"During this turn monsters that I would control wouldn't be destroyed by battle," she said as a Grapha came closer to her, "It also makes so I take no battle damage this turn.

"What!?" he said, taking a step back.

Estrel shrugged with a smile as the Grapha swung at her and she slapped the claw aside with her hand, "Too bad, eh?"

"You're just lucky," Frith growled while looking over his hand, "I set a card and end my turn."

"If you say so…" the woman said with a sigh before taking a moment to look over her opponent's field more closely.

Frith saw her glance. He noticed that her expression wasn't that of helplessness like he had hoped. She was unfazed. It bothered him.

'Why's she so calm? Doesn't she know she can't win? I've got three Grapha after all!' he said in thought, 'Furthermore I have Skill Drain and Solemn Warning set so I can stop anything she can do. Yeah, I've got this.'

He nodded to himself, reassured. Upon looking up however he was alarmed to see a smirk on the woman's face.

"WH-what are you smiling at!?" Frith shouted, uncomfortable.

"Nothing. I just noticed you looking at your face downs. That's all."

'Crap!'

"Which means I know what I have to do. Draw!"

She raised her arm, "I reveal my set card. Heavy Storm!"

"You _set _Heavy Storm!?" Frith shouted as the wind started to pick up in the area.

"Yup and with it all spell and trap cards, including the ones you were banking on keeping me in check will be blown away!" she said as the Gates of Dark World began to crumble from the gusts.

"No! My cards!" he shouted as all that remained for him was his monsters, "Damn you! Damn you to hell! I'm going to make you pay for that next turn!"

"There won't be a next turn," Estrel said as she took a card from her hand and slapped it onto her disk, "I summon Constellar Sombre in attack mode!"

Light began to shine across the battlefield as a maiden in white bearing wings of glittering stars appeared, (Lv. 4, 1550 Atk).

"I activate my monster's effect. By banishing Constellar Sheritan I am able to add a Constellar Monster from my graveyard to my hand, such as Constellar Kaus.!"

"You're kidding," Frith said as the monster spread its hands out to create a ring of light with multiple zodiac signs able to be seen within it.

"This is no joke. Neither is the second part of this effect. After doing this I can activate Sombre's ability to normal summon a Constellar Monster an additional time. Come out Constellar Kaus!"

Stars taking on the constellation Sagittarius appeared as a centaur like creature in white carrying a bow galloped onto the battlefield (Lv. 4, 1800 Atk).

"I activate Kaus' effect. Up to twice a turn I can target a Constellar monster in play and either raise or lower its level," Estrel said as her creature took its bow and shot an arrow to the sky, causing an explosion and a shower of stars to fall upon the duo, "I'm using his effect to make my monsters Level 5!"

Frith was unimpressed, "Really? All of that for THAT? Those things are weak!"

"Perhaps. They may not have much for power but I do happen to have two monsters of the same level on my field."

"Why should I care about that?" he asked before his eyes snapped wide, "Wait you don't mean-"

Estrel put her hand to the sky, "These two monsters are going to be used for something special! I'm going to overlay them together!"

Constellar Sombre and Constellar Kaus looked at each other with nods before leaping into the air, turning into rays of yellow light.

"With these two monsters I construct the Overlay Network," she said while the beams swirled and danced with each other before rushing towards a black vortex that appeared in the ground before her, "Xyz Summon!"

The beams smashed into the vortex causing a massive explosion of light and stars upon those words.

"Holy Paladin of Sacred Stars, I call upon you!" Estrel chanted a figure rose up from the blast, surrounded by light, "Bring order to this chaos with your just blade!"

Stars glittered around the figure as a large sword decorated with yellow runes appeared before it.

"Come forth! Constellar Pleiades!"

The figure slashed out with the sword as the light around it dissipated to reveal a mighty warrior clad in white and gold armour with a majestic cape flapping about (Rank 5, 2500 Atk, OVL 2).

Frith took another step back at the sight of the lancer, his confidence starting to falter. He shook his head before giving Estrel another glare of contempt.

"THAT is your big play!? A monster with only 2500 attack?" he shouted.

Pleiades snapped a glance at the man, causing him to flinch.

"Appearances can be deceiving," Estrel said while leaning forward, "Pleiades may not look like a strong fighter but there are ways to change that! I play the spell card Judgment of the Light!"

A card depicting the image of beams of white raining upon a shadowed land appeared.

"This card can only be applied to a Light Xyz Monster, however it's worth it as until the end phase my Pleiades will gain 500 attack for each monster you control. Since you have four monsters in play at the moment that means he'll get a total of 2000 more attack this turn!"

Her monster let out a mighty battle cry as an aura of holy light burned from it (2500 - 4500 Atk).

Frith paled, "Oh no…he's now stronger than my Grapha!"

"Much stronger," Estrel said while swinging her arm out, "Battle! Constellar Pleiades. Attack Grapha Dragon Lord of Dark World with Sacred Star Sword!"

The monster leaped into the air, sword raised while letting out a hot blooded roar. The Grapha looked up in surprised as the warrior came down with a vicious swing of his blade followed by several more chops, rending him in twain before exploding.

"Argh! Damn you!" Frith shouted as the force of the hit nearly threw him off his feet (LP 4000 - 2200), "I'm going to pay you back for that in double! My remaining Grapha will tear you a new one on my turn!"

"I already told you once before, there will be no next turn. From my hand I activate the Quickplay spell Xyz Stand," Estrel said while slapping a card onto her disk, "At the end of a battle involving Xyz monster I control with two or more Overlay Units I can play this. It allows me to detach all of its Overlay Units in order to gain 500 attack and the ability to battle one more time!"

Both of the orbs circling Pleiades burst as it brought up its arms, grunting as it began to glow blue (OVL 0).

"And as a side note the effect of Judgment of the Light is still in play. With the extra boost in power from Xyz Stand my monster's attack will now become 5000!"

Frith's eyes widened as his jaw fell slack, "That's insane!"

"This is going to sting a little. Be a big boy and tough it out, okay?" Estrel said with a smile and a wink as her monster leapt into the air once more, "Pleiades, take down his Tour Guide From the Underworld and finish this!"

The red imp looked up in shock before screaming as the paladin cleaved through her with a roar. Another explosion occurred, this one having enough force to throw Frith into the air.

"This is impossible!" he shouted while flying across the stage and landing meters away from his original spot (LP 2200 - 0).

"We have a winner!" the announcer shouted as the crowd let out a tremendous roar of approval.

Estrel smiled while waving back, heaving a sigh of relief having finished such a tight duel. She looked over to her opponent who was getting back to his feet.

"Ugh…I lost? This….this is…there's no way…" he muttered while walking off, "She just got lucky with that stupid card combination…yeah, that's it…"

She sighed while watching him walk off, "I'm not even going to comment on that. Instead…"

Estrel closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy the excitement of the spectators as they cheered still.

'I'm going to focus on what's ahead. While this feeling is nice and all…I'm not satisfied with just it.'

She brought up a fist before looking up at the skies and towards the stars.

'I'm going to keep going and nobody's going to stop me.'

_Author's Note; Welcome to the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! X-Stars! This will be my second attempt at a fanfiction set in the world of card games except in this case the gimmick is SPACE and unlike ZeXal I'm legitimately going to try the idea of space travel and such as the story goes along, complete with aliens! At the end of each chapter I'll also write a small blurb describing some of my thoughts on each chapter. Since this is the start of the story this one will be bigger than most._

_Like my last story (which you guys enjoyed) this contains original characters, original cards and like before you'll be seeing a combination of decks you may be familiar with and decks you may not. Many of the characters from the last story will be returning in some capacity but with different decks (except for one) and different personalities. Estrel is a clear example as in the last story she was the psychopathic villain with a Batteryman deck but in here she's calm, strategic and plays Constellar which has the theme of stars. In regards to her being the main character I figured that it would be an awesome curveball to throw at everyone since people would have likely expected Ryu Azura to return as the hero. Nope! Not this story! In regards to this chapter the basic premise of the story is set and we have the return of Frith who like before has an awful personality and gets beaten down horribly by the heroine._


	2. Turn 2 - The Emperor's Trial

An eccentric scientist is sitting before a computer typing away.

"Hmm…what could this be…what could this be?" he muttered while coming across the image of a card and zooming in on it.

_Xyz Stand_

_Quickplay Spell_

_Activate after the damage step of a battle involving Xyz Monster you control with 2 or more Xyz-Material. Detatch all Xyz Material from that monster to give it the following effect;_

_*Increase this card's Atk by 500, until the End Phase. Also, this monster can attack once more._

"A card that lets a Xyz monster attack twice!? This will be most useful to me…"

* * *

Estrel continued her strong play throughout the tournament, defeating several duelists of varied skill on her way to the finals where she was paired up against Amond Rau, a well-known and respected duelist in this end of the quadrant.

"It's come to this folks!" the announced shouted as both players took their spots on the center duel field, "Veteran duelist Amond Rau against the shocking upstart Estrel Galaxia! How will this clash of experience versus skill play out! I can't wait to see!"

"Veteran? I've only been playing for two years…" said the man with blonde hair in a ponytail and a shirt, jacket and jeans while a drop of sweat rolled down the side of his head.

"At least you didn't get an awful pun," Estrel replied with a sigh.

"…point taken. How about we start this thing?"

"Fine by me. Let's throw down!"

Both brought up their decks.

"DUEL!"

Chapter 2 – The Emperor's Trial

Estrel (4000) vs. Amond (4000)

"I'll take the first turn!" Estrel said while snapping her arm out, "Draw! I summon Constellar Sheritan in attack and use his effect to add Constellar Kaus from my deck to my hand!"

She followed this up by swinging her hand across her duel disk, "I set two cards face down and end my turn!"

"I'll draw," Amond replied while looking over his hand and weighing his options, "Well since you did some deck thinning last turn it's only fair I do the same now."

He took a card from his hand and slipped it into the graveyard. It was the image of a yellow frog with wings.

Estrel narrowed her eyes, "That's-"

"By sending one Treeborn Frog from my hand to the graveyard I special summon Swap Frog from my hand!" Amond shouted as a yellow horned frog with red spots all over appeared before him sitting on an oversized leaf, "When successfully summoned I can send a Level 2 or lower Water type Aqua Monster from my deck to the graveyard such as Ronintoadin!"

'Frogs…' Estrel said to herself, 'I wonder…is he playing only them or…'

"After this I activate Swap Frog's last effect and return it to my hand to perform an extra Normal Summon of a Frog Monster. Except I don't have an extra Frog monster to use with this so I'll just return him to the hand and nothing else."

He slapped a card onto his disk, "I will however Normal Summon Swap Frog and use his effect to send Dupe Frog from my deck to the graveyard. With that done I'll now enter battle and have Swap Frog attack your Constellar Sheritan!"

The creature leapt across the battlefield before making a hard lunge at Estrel's monster.

"Trap activate, Dimensional Prison!" Estrel shouted as cracks appeared before the Swap Frog, "When an opponent's monster is attacking, I can banish it from the game."

The sound of glass shattering filled the air as the cracks opened wide to reveal a strange and horrifying world before the frog. The creature found itself being drawn in by an incredible force and try as it might it could not escape. Oblivion followed shortly.

"With this you won't be able to continue setting up your graveyard for that Roadintoadin's summon ability."

Amond smirked while shrugging, "You got me there. With this all I can do is end my turn."

Estrel snapped her arm out as she drew, glancing at her new card. Without hesitation she slapped it onto her disk.

"I summon Constellar Algiedi!"

The constellation of Capricorn appeared as a white armoured masked maiden bearing a cape and a magical wand, (Lv.4, 1600 Atk).

"Now I activate her effect!" she shouted as the spell caster snapped its wand to the side, "When successfully Normal Summoned I can special summon a Level 4 Constellar Monster from my hand to the field!"

"Is that so? In that case I don't think I can allow that," Amond said while taking a card from his hand and revealing it, "I activate a monster effect from my hand, Effect Veiler!"

Estrel took a step back with widened eyes.

"By sending this to the graveyard I can target a monster you control and negate its effect for the turn!"

Red bolts of lightning appeared around Algiedi, binding it in place as a winged fairy like creature appeared with is arms out and in command of the bolts before fading away.

"Wow! What a duel!" the announcer shouted, unable to contain himself any longer, "Both duelists going back and forth, mirroring each other plays while trying to one-up the other! Such excitement!"

Estrel threw her arm forward, "Battle! Constellar Sheritan, attack Amond directly!"

Her first monster pointed its ray gun at the opponent and fired an arrow of light at him, landing a strike in the knee (LP 4000 - 3300).

"Constellar Algiedi, direct attack!"

The spell caster pointed her want at him and unleashed a blast of holy light that slammed into his chest with enough force to push him back (LP 3300 - 1700).

"I end my turn."

"And now it's mine. Draw!" Amond said with a snap of his arm, "As I enter my standby phase I activate the effect of Treeborn Frog!"

Leaping up from the depths of a great pond was a small yellow frog sporting bandages and a halo (Lv. 1, 100 Def), "If I control no spell or traps and this is in my graveyard, I can special summon it to the field!"

He took a card from his hand and slapped it onto his disk, "Now I activate a Quickplay spell, Enemy Controller! By releasing my Treeborn Frog I can take control of a monster you have until the end of the turn. I'll grab your Constellar Algiedi!"

"Oh, no!" Estrel shouted as her monster warped from her side of the battlefield to his own.

Amond threw his arm out, "And that's not all of it! Since its still my Standby Phase and I no longer have spells or traps in play I can summon Treeborn again!"

Once more the overly abused Frog rose up from oblivion and onto the field.

"It's time for me to get serious," he continued while moving his hand forward, "I release your Algeidi in order to Advance Summon a monster from my hand. Come forth Raiza the Storm Monarch!"

Estrel's monster dissolved as a blast of wind erupted from before her opponent. Appearing within the storm was a large regal creature cast in green armour while bearing a cape that threw his arms out (Lv. 6, 2400 Atk). The sight of the creature made her eyes narrow.

'Monarchs. I thought so,' she said while looking over the contents of her hand then back to her opponent.

"Raiza's monster effect now activates! When successfully Advanced Summoned he can target one card on the field such as your Constellar Sheritan…" Amond explained as his monster put its arms forward and started to conjure a sphere of raging wind, "…and return it to the top of her deck!"

Before she could blink an eye the Monarch fired the orb off and struck her monster, causing it to fly into the sky before vanishing and landing on her deck. She grunted while looking over her now defenseless field.

"Battle! Raiza attacks you directly!"

Another vicious blast of wind was shot, this one striking her square in a chest that caused her to let out an anguished yell while being thrown off her feet and onto her back (LP 4000 - 1600).

"With this my turn ends."

Estrel, now dirty and battered grit her teeth while standing back up and placing a finger on the top of her deck, "It's…my turn...draw!""

She looked at her hand again before slapping a monster down.

"I summon Constellar Sheritan again and with his effect add Constellar Pollux to my hand!"

This was followed by her taking a card from her hand and slipping it into her duel disk.

"Then I play a spell card, Pot of Duality! I reveal the top three cards of my deck, add one to my hand and shuffle the rest into my deck!" she shouted the backs of three cards appeared in front of her.

The cards flipped around one by one, revealing Mystical Space Typhoon, Solemn Warning and Mirror Force. The last one caused Amond to narrow his eyes, something that Estrel noticed.

"I'll take Mirror Force and shuffle the rest back. Pot of Duality also prevents me from special summoning this turn so I'll set two cards face down and pass it to you."

Amond nodded while drawing for turn and looking at Estrel's field. He looked up to her and smirked.

"Well this is interesting," he said while looking at his hand for a moment, "Quite the bind too. You've put me into a situation where I can't be reckless. However if you think you've got me pinned down I'm afraid you're mistaken."

He pointed to his frog, "I release Treeborn to advance summon another monster, Caius the Shadow Monarch!"

Absolute darkness spilled into the area as a black figure clad in a tattered cloak appeared (Lv. 4, 2400 Atk).

"When this card is Advanced Summoned I can banish a single card from the field," he stated while looking over the cards Estrel had face down, 'Though I have to admit it's not easy singling out one of them.'

His eyes fell on the first card.

'Let's see…that one has been down all game and she hasn't even looked at it yet. It must be a Mystical Space Typhoon or something else not helpful against my deck. It has to be the other two. Normally people will set their strongest card first out of instinct. However this lady…'

He looked back up at her and studied her expression. Despite the dire straits she was in Estrel was calm and collected.

'…is definitely not your country bumpkin. She'd definitely take that into consideration and would instead set her bluff card first to draw out any form of removal and thus keep her Mirror Force safe.'

Amond found himself rubbing his chin, a visible sign that he was in deep thought, 'However she also knows that I'm an above average player who thinks about this stuff so she may have actually set her bluff second in hopes I'd single it out. That said…'

"I banish your center set card!" he shouted with a point of his hand, "Dark Core!"

The emperor swung and arm forward, unleashing a sphere of darkness that ballooned in size while ripping past her monster and into the card, causing it to implode while flipping up.

It was Mirror Force. Estrel flinched as her freshly set card was wiped clean from the field.

"Not good!" she shouted as Amond made a quick fist pump.

"Clever, but not enough! Battle! Caius the Shadow Monarch, attack Constellar Sheritan!"

The fiend put its arms together before drawing them apart, summoning an even greater storm of darkness that was hurled at Estrel's archer, "With this it's over!"

"Trap activate, Mirror Force!"

Amond's eyes widened as a card popped up from her side of the field, the card that she yet to use all game!

"You had another!?" he shouted in surprise as a white barrier enveloped her monster and blocked the hit from Caius.

Estrel nodded while standing with an arm out to the side as the attack was thrown back towards her opponent's side of the field in the form of white beams, signaling the demise of his offenses, "Yes. I've had this since my first turn. I've just never needed to use it until now."

"Then why the play with Pot of Duality…"

He took a step back in surprise as a thought struck him, 'Of course! She got another Mirror Force to make certain the one that was set all along would stay safe!'

A mighty explosion filled with roars of agony snapped him out of his inner monologue. Amond turned his attention back to the field and saw with dismay as both his Caius and Raiza were obliterated by the power of Mirror Force.

"And now your field is open," Estrel said while watching the flames around him die out, "With only 1700 Life Points all I need to do is summon any of the monsters in my hand and I'll win."

Amond snapped his arm out, "We'll see about that! I activate the effect of Ronintoadin from my graveyard! First I remove Dupe Frog from my Graveyard and by doing so I can summon this monster to the field!"

A blast of white smoke appeared before him as a light blue frog with red markings bearing a small sword sheathed in green could be seen (Lv. 2, 2000 Def).

"2000 defense!?"

"You got it. Try summoning any of those monsters and seeing if they can get past this. I end my turn!"

"And now it's my turn! Draw!" Estrel shouted with a snap of her arm before looking over her hand.

Amond watched her intently while trying to gauge her thoughts, 'Alright now you've got your chance. After going to all of that trouble to buy a turn I'm curious to see how you're going to get around this. At best she'll be able to attack over my Ronintoadin then have her weaker monster attack directly which won't be enough to win the game.'

He looked back to her and saw that Estrel was staring at him with an intensity that he could only describe as electric.

'Yeow, those eyes! That's the look of someone who is utterly fearless! I imagine this is exactly what happened to Frith before he got creamed.'

"I summon Constellar Pollux!" she shouted while slapping a card down.

The constellation of Gemini appeared as a cloaked paladin warrior wielding a two pronged sword appeared, slashing it out as light began to stream down from the skies (Lv.4 1700 Atk).

"When this card is successfully Normal Summoned I gain an additional Constellar Normal Summon for the turn! I summon Constellar Kaus!"

Once more the centaur like monster bearing a holy bow appeared (Lv. 4, 1800 Atk). Estrel threw her arm ahead, "I activate his effect! Twice per turn I can raise or lower a Constellar's monster Level. I choose to make both of my monsters Level 5!"

"Two Level 5 monsters…is it coming?" Amond asked to himself aloud as he saw her snap her hand up.

"I overlay my Level 5 Constellar Pollux and Constellar Kaus!" she shouted as the monsters turned into beams of light that shot into the air, spiraling around each other while heading towards a rapidly expanding gate of stars and darkness, "With these two cards I construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!"

The stars exploded as a white clad knight bearing a holy sword etched with runes appeared within a veil of light (Rank 5, 2500 Atk, OVL 2). The monster slashed out with its sword as two sphere of light began to circle it.

"Come to my aid, Constellar Pleiades!"

Amond nodded, "So this is the monster that beat Frith. Impressive indeed. However even though you've managed to summon a monster with 2500 attack to clear my Ronintoadin you still won't be able to deplete the rest of my Life Points. Not with that Constellar Sheritan's 700 attack."

"That's true. However I still have one more play to make. I activate the effect of my Pleiades! First I remove one of its Overlay Units, the monsters used to summon a Xyz Monster!" Estrel shouted as one of the spheres circling her monster flashed as it raised it sword, drawing the orb into it, "Then I can target one card on the field like your Ronintoadin and return it to the hand."

"What!?"

"Be gone, Ronintoadin!"

Pleiades slashed down with its sword, unleashing a blast of light that struck the amphibian that bounced it into the air in a comical manner before vanishing entirely (OVL 1).

Estrel snapped her arm in, pointing straight at her opponent, "Now your field is open again! Battle! Constellar Pleiades, attack him directly with Sacred Star Sword!"

Amond watched in complete shock as the monster came at him with its blade raised one more.

"So this is how it ends huh? I guess this is as far as I go," he said as the sword came down slashed him with enough force to bring him down to a knee (LP 1700 - 0).

"It's been decided!" the announcer shouted as the monsters and field went away, leaving only two duelists looking worse for ware for reasons that nobody ever did understand, "The winner of this duel and the tournament itself is Estrel Galaxia!"

The crowd went wild with cheers and applause while the woman went over to Amond and offered a hand.

"Good duel," she said while helping him back up, "It was close."

He paused, surprised at her remark before settling into a smirk, "Yeah. It was. Good duel."

After dusting himself off the man made a slight bow before turning around and taking his leave.

"Where are you going?" Estrel asked as she started after him.

"Off to get more practice. After all no self-respecting duelist would be satisfied with coming just an inch of winning, right?" he said with a glance back to her.

"Fair enough…"

"That said enjoy your moment of glory. Oh and give my regards to the Galaxy-Tubers."

"The what-ACK!" she shouted as people swarmed up to her with cameras and microphones, asking for interviews, profiles of her deck and much more.

Amond chuckled as he made his way outside and looked up to the skies before glancing in the direction Estrel once more.

"That lady. She's something," he said to none but himself while flashes of the duel raced across his mind, "To have caught onto my play style and adjust accordingly in the manner that she did…she's got a great dueling sense. Furthermore…"

He thought back to the near end of the duel when the odds seemed to be against Estrel and the expression she had. The fearless eyes that looked back at him.

"I'll never forget that face or those eyes. That's the look of someone who refuses to acknowledge their limits. A fine quality for a player to have."

Satisfied with his assessment of Estrel Amond started to walk off again with his gaze towards the skies again, oblivious to the presence of an individual that had been nearby while he spoke.

"Someone who refuses to acknowledge their limits, eh? Interesting…"

* * *

_A/N: Thus concludes the second chapter and the first tournament. I know a tournament this early seems really out of place (which is something that was pointed out by Witch of Tragedies) however I'm hoping the considerably short length (basically 2 "episodes" compared to 10+) will offset this. I also admit that abundance of staple cards and known things may be a bit much but bear with me on this one. It will get better soon._

_That said as for the chapter itself. First we're introduced to the "Card of the Day" like segment that was used before the beginning of an Episode of 5Ds however instead of Ruka and Lua dancing around we have the eccentric scientist looking up and going over original cards with his mighty computer. Amond Rau who had a bit cameo in the previous story returns for a full chapter piloting a Frog Monarch deck which is a longtime favourite of casual and competitive players._


End file.
